Caster



BEST AVAILABLE cop PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904.

of H. MoGAULEY.

(EASTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. 1904.

NO MODEL.

u Z Z W W e Li C YW'H I e s s e s: ywmQ/ ezqwm The object of-theinvention is to provide a BEST AVAILABLE COP UNITED STATES Patented September 20, 1 e04.

CHARLES HOWARD MoCAULEY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

CASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,532, dated September 20, 1904. Application filed February 5, 1904. I Serial No. 192,084. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES HOWARD Mo- OAULEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Casters, of which the following is a specification. V I

My invention relates to an improvement in casters.

caster with a rigid centeringframe adapted to be inserted in the tubular leg of furniture, such as bedsteads, and having a plurality of projections which contact with the tubular wall, by means of which the said frame may be securely held in place. The invention consists of the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will be more particularly described, and pointed out in the appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying draw= rings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 illustrate vertical sectional views through the lower end of a tubular leg with the centering-frame and caster in place, one section being taken on a line at right angles with respect to the other. Fig. 3 illustrates a vertical sectional view of the detached rigid frame. Fig. 4 illustrates a horizontal sectional view through the tubular leg and shows a plan view of the rigid centeringframe in position. Fig. 5 illustrates the flat blank from which the rigid frame is formed. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the bearing-plate. The caster-wheel a, yoke or frame I), and pintle 0 are all of well-known construction, and therefore need not be described in detail. The rigid frame in which the pintle turns comprises two parts, one of which is a circular bearing-plate d, formed from a sheetmetal blank and having two parallel slots 6, a central pintlehole f, and a downwardlycurved flange g. The other part of the frame consists of the two parallel sides 71 and a horizontal top j, extending at right angles with respect to and connecting said sides. Each side at its lower end is provided with a tang 7a, which passes through one of the slots 6 in the bearing-plate d and is clenched or riveted on the bottom of said plate, so that said plate rigidly-connected plate d are provided with l one or more outwardly-pressed and down- Wardly-inclined tangs Z, the lower ends Z of which are rounded for a purpose presently to be described.

It will be seen that the downwardly-curved flange g on the bottom of the bearing-plate d, which forms the margin of the pintle-hole, projects below the clenched ends of the tangs k, and said flange rests on top of the yoke b and serves as a bearing and also prevents the clenched tangs from contacting with the said yoke b when the latter is turned. It will also be seen by reference to Fig. 4 that the horizontalsquare top 7' snugly fits in the tube m, and said top keeps the side or sides t' pressed, so that the vertical edges 7," of the said sides of the centering-frame are in contact with the inner cylindric surface of the said tube 422-, and the frame is thereby centered in said tube. While the frame thus holds itself in a rigid centered position in the tube, the rounded ends Z of the outwardly-pressing downwardlyinclined tangsl also contact with the inner surface of the tube and retain the device in place. The rounded shape of the ends insure the greatest contact with the vertical wall of the tube.

Another advantage arising from the construction of a rigidpintle-frame sn ugly fitting Within the tube and having the outwardlypressing downwardly-inclined tangs is that when the latter are in contact with the tubular leg they are protected against all lateral strain occasioned by the pintle and cannot be pressed inwardly toward the pintle because the centering-frame is held by its square topand verticaledges rigidly in place. Thus the tangs will always remain in contact with the inner surface of the tubular leg andwill hold the frame and caster in place.

I am aware that a number of patents have been granted for devices in which springframes are employed in the tubular leg, said frames being yielding or movable in a horizontal plane with respect to a bearing-plate. My device differs from these, however. in that the frame part that fits within the tube is rigid with respect to the bearing-plateand itself is rigid in its position in the tube and is held in place by the engagement of the inclined tangs.

The frame itself merely centers the pintle and prevents the tangs from being bent inwardly by horizontal strains.

Having thus fully described my invention, what 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l 1 1. A retainer centering-frame for furniturecasters comprising an inverted U shaped metal frame having a perforation centrally located between its two ends, and having tangs punched outwardly from its vertical sides at points between each end and said central perforation, and the ends of said frame being immovably secured to and carrying a plate.

'2. The combination with a tubular leg, of a caster-wheel yoke and pintle; a sheet-metal frame through which the pintle extends and fitting into said tubular leg and having its two BEST AVAILABLE COPA ends projecting from the interior of and belo said leg; a circular plate rigidl y attached to t1 projecting ends of said frame and maintainin said projecting ends in an immovable positio with respect to each other, the diameter 0 said plate being greater than the interior d i arneter of said tube so as to seat against thi lower end of the latter, and a plurality of inclined tangs punched outwardly from the fiat sides of said frame and between the vertical edges of the latter and said tangs contacting with the wall of the tube at a point betweer.

the vertical edges of the .side from which it is punched, to hold the plate against the bottom of the tube when the leg is raised.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

I CHARLES HOWARD MGCAULEY.

Witnesses:

CHARLES B. MANN, J12, GEO. WARD. 

